Κυρίου (Kuriou) in Matthew 1:22: Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Κυρίου (Kuriou) in Matthew 1:22
Textual Witness
The witness reads Κυρίου in the phrase ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, within the clause about what was spoken.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The grammar directs attention to the Lord as the source of the spoken word, which strengthens the verse's fulfillment claim and its sense of authorized revelation.
How To Communicate It
In teaching or translation notes, this form can be rendered simply as 'of the Lord' or 'by the Lord,' with the surrounding syntax deciding the best English sense.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case can signal relationship, source, or possession, but the verse determines which nuance fits best.
- Grammatical gender here is a noun class feature and does not itself make a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this word names a person or title, and here it refers to the one identified as the source of the spoken word.
Genitive: the form usually marks a relationship, source, or attachment, and here it fits the phrase governed by ὑπό.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, pointing to one referent in the clause.
Masculine: the noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which is a form feature and not a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου
The genitive is governed by the preposition ὑπό and works within the passive phrase to identify the agent of the saying.
It functions as the source or agent of the utterance, naming who spoke the quoted word in the verse.
It does not by itself decide whether the referent is simply a respectful human master or a divine title; context must carry that judgment.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive noun in the prepositional phrase identifies the Lord as the source or agent of the prophetic word.
Genitive singular noun governed by the agency preposition. marks the Lord as the source or agent behind the word spoken through the prophet. Attached to the spoken-by-the-Lord phrase in Matthew 1:22. Governed by the preposition used with the passive speaking phrase. The form belongs to a fulfillment formula and supports the source of the spoken word.
Who is named as the source of the spoken word? The prepositional genitive identifies the Lord as the source or agent of the utterance.
Direct: The form supports rendering the phrase as "by the Lord" or "from the Lord" according to English style.
The preposition governs the genitive and makes agency or source prominent in the passive construction. The Lord title should be interpreted from the fulfillment context, not from the genitive form alone.
Case ending alone defines the speaker's full identity: The phrase names the Lord as source; the verse and canon supply the broader theological context. prophetic source is detached from the through-the-prophet phrase: The sentence holds Lord-source and prophetic mediation together.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads Κυρίου in the phrase ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, within the clause about what was spoken.
The lemma is κύριος, a term that can mean lord, master, or Lord, and its force depends on context.
Here the genitive after ὑπό points to the speaking source in the passive construction, so the phrase presents the utterance as coming from the Lord.
The verse says that the event happened so that the word spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled.
This wording fits Matthew's larger pattern of fulfillment and supports a reading of divine authority behind the cited prophecy.
For readers and teachers, the form helps show who is named as the source of the prophetic word, without making the grammar do more than the sentence allows.
Do not derive from the case ending alone the full identity, status, or theology of the speaker; those claims come from the verse and its wider canonical context.